High School Showcase, known under its
corporate sponsored nameIn the private sector, naming rights are a financial transaction whereby a corporation or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, typically for a defined period of time. For properties like a multi-purpose arena, performing arts venue or an athletic field, the term ranges from three...
as the
GEICOThe Government Employees Insurance Company is an auto insurance company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway that as of 2007 provided coverage for more than 10 million motor vehicles owned by more than 9 million policy holders. GEICO writes private passenger automobile insurance...
High School Showcase, is a presentation of
high school footballHigh school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
and high school basketball on
ESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
,
ESPN2ESPN2 is an American sports cable television network owned by ESPN. The channel debuted on October 1, 1993.Originally nicknamed "the deuce," ESPN2 was initially branded as a network for a younger generation of sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like motocross,...
and
ESPNUESPNU is a television channel that specializes in college sports, and is produced by, affiliated with and owned by parent network ESPN. ESPNU originates out of ESPN Regional Television's ESPNU (often referred to as The U) is a television channel that specializes in college sports, and is produced...
.. Since debuting in 2005, it primarily airs on Friday at 8pm
ETThe Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
on ESPNU, following
ESPNU Recruiting InsiderESPNU Recruiting Insider is a television program that focuses on college football recruiting. Debuting on September 8, 2006, ESPNU Recruiting Insider now airs every Thursday at 5 pm ET on ESPNU...
, but will occasionally air at various times and days on ESPN and ESPN2. Various commentators call the game every week, although
Mike HallMichael James Hall is an American sports broadcaster who currently works for the Big Ten Network. He can also be found as a sideline reporter for NFL games on Fox...
and
Tom LuginbillTom Luginbill is a college football analyst for ESPN. Luginbill grew up in Tempe, Arizona and San Diego. He is the son of the professional and college coach Al Luginbill.-Playing career:...
anchor the halftime report and in-game updates. The series was previously
Old SpiceOld Spice is a prominent American brand of male grooming products. It is manufactured by Procter & Gamble, which acquired the brand in 1990 from the Shulton Company.-History:...
Red Zone High School Showcase; the series also has previously had
Hondais a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
as a presenting sponsor.
Old Spice High School Showcase debuted in 2005 as a way to fill programming on the then-nascent ESPNU channel, which had debuted in March 2005. The series aired only four games in 2005, but after much success ESPN expanded its schedule to a full thirteen game season. Part of what lead ESPN to expanding its schedule is, in 2005, ESPN aired the highest rated high school football game in television history.
Nease High SchoolAllen D. Nease High School is a public high school in the St. Johns County School District, located in Ponte Vedra, Florida that was established in 1981. The school is a member of the International Baccalaureate program. The principal is Mr...
(
FloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
) vs.
Hoover High School (Alabama)Hoover High School is a public high school in Hoover, Alabama, USA, serving grades 9-12. It was built as a replacement for W. A. Berry High School. It is currently one of the two International Baccalaureate schools in the Greater Birmingham Area...
garnered a 1.0 rating and attracted nearly one million households.
Despite the expansion, the airing of high school football games on Thanksgiving weekend, a particularly important day in high school football in many parts of the country and one where high school football used to air on ESPN in the past, has been eliminated; ESPN no longer airs any high school football due to the founding of the
Old Spice ClassicThe Old Spice Classic is an annual college basketball tournament played over Thanksgiving weekend. The inaugural tournament was held November, 23, 24, and 26, 2006. The tournament is played at the HP Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. In the current format, the...
and 76 Classic, college basketball tournaments that were founded in 2006 and 2007 and make up the bulk of the ESPN networks' schedules that weekend. (The last Thanksgiving
High School Showcase game, Easton, PA vs. Phillipsburg, NJ, aired on Thanksgiving 2006.)
Old Spice High School Showcase started to air high school basketball games in 2006, as well.
Games in the
High School Showcase are also broadcast on ESPN3.
External links